FAKE NEWS MIS & DISINFORMATION (insert title)

Anything can be believable, as long as it has an eye-catching headline with big,

boldface letters to compliment it. Of course, it’s easy to be caught off guard by anything
that is everything but the norm, and as easy as it is to be compelled to such intriguing
information, most of the time the information at hand is either incorrect, incomplete, or
just outright fake, hence an almost endless cycle of misinformation and disinformation.

The process of conveying news has been around in as early as before 59 BCE in
Ancient Rome. A millennium and a few centuries later came the printing press, giving
way to a more widespread distribution of news. Traditional media would eventually be
replaced by online media, making for a more efficient and hassle-free scattering of
news.

But it’s also with the same quick and efficient way that fake news can spread as fast or
even outrace legitimate news to the public. According to a study conducted by
researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, fake news “can spread 10
times faster than legitimate news stories”. Via word of mouth, a person can relay a
piece of untruthful information they found on the web onto another until it forms a huge
network of unreliable news circling around that will eventually spread like a virus and
plague every person’s better judgement of things. What more can the internet do if just
this much can cover entire communities? News travels in a matter of seconds, these
untruthful bunches of ‘information’ can cover the entire globe in nanoseconds. As quick
as fake news spreads, it’s the opposite with the amount of time it takes to debunk and
terminate them.

It only takes a tiny rumor to spark an entire wave of fake news articles online, with
enough sugary words and half-hearted research to back up its credibility, it will
somehow end up fooling hundreds if not thousands of people who don’t even bother
properly looking up legitimate information. But then again, why is it that people are
vulnerable to believing fake news?

Research implies that bias contributes to why people believe fake news, because it’s
how the internet works. Its algorithms are programmed to show you what you want to
see and what you agree with, eventually leading to rampant misinformation and
disinformation. While the two are very much alike, the main difference between the two
is that misinformation is inaccurate information while disinformation is false information
intended to mislead.
A prime example of disinformation is the recent issue with historical revisionism in the
Philippines regarding the Martial Law period, and the robust circling of fake news during
the 2022 Elections would cite an example of misinformation, both empowered by social
media algorithms and personal bias. All of this was a surefire way to spark countless
debates and disputes online most notably on Twitter and Facebook, two of the most
popular social media platforms in the world and hotspots for online fistfights.

All of this rampant distribution of fake news wouldn’t entirely be the internet’s fault since
it’s just doing its job of relaying it all over the globe, someone has to be responsible of
creating misinformation and disinformation in the first place, right? But then again, we
can’t simply point fingers and accuse anyone without evidence or research because
doing so otherwise proves no better than whoever is spreading fake news. The best
course of action to be taken is to always double-check anything we see online and
spread awareness wherever and whenever.